accusing mariia butina of felony conspiracy. according to this newly filed indictment "the objects of the conspiracy were to act in the united states as an agent of a foreign government, specifically the russian federation to exploit personal connections with u.s. persons having influence on american politics in an effort to advance the interests of the russian federation and to infiltrate organizations active in american politicsing in an effort to advance the interests of the russian federation." the indictment then lays out the manner and means of the conspiracy among the manner and means of the conspiracy with which she is now officially charged prosecutors say bu tin that "attempted to establish unofficial lines of communications with u.s. politicians and political organizations for the purpose of advancing the interests of the russian federation." again, this is now an indictment duly sworn and signed. by jesse lew, the u.s. attorney for the district of columbia. the reason this case is so important to the overall story ar

mariia butina is the 29-year-old grad student accused of being a russian agent. held without bail, charged with attempting to infiltrate republican circles including the nra in an effort to advance a pro-kremlin agenda. foreign minister lavrov says the charges were in his estimation fabricated. joining me, the vice president of think tank, great to have you with me. let me get reaction to the story, this young woman was in and around washington, d.c., trying to sew the kind of discord she's alleged to have sewed in that indictment. what do you make of it? >> what it shows the russians have for a long time had plans to infiltrate republican party and its surrounding universe, that they were trying hard to get close to people to move an agenda that would try to tear america apart, push it to extremes. mariia butina was a big part of that, trying to convince the nra to go along with the russian agenda. >> there's a lot fishy about this. she was heading a group in russia, gun rights group in russia where there isn't widespread gun ownership. comes to washington, d.c.

the case of mariia butina has become the latest in the wrong series of thorns in the side between thetionship of moscow and washington but what is particularly fascinating is it sheds some light on the ways in which these individuals allegedly working for the russian state tried to infiltrate the u.s. establishment and groups like the nra. she appealed directly to the heart of american conservatism combining a passion for guns with a youthful charm. >> i'm representative of russian federation and i am a chairman of the right to bear arms. it's russian nonprofit argue. >> an online profile says butina was born in siberia a year before the fall of the berlin wall and spent her childhood navigating the rocky transition from communism to capitalism. she apparently launched a chain of small furniture stores in her hometown before moving to moscow where it says her interest in expanding the rights of average russian citizens soon caught the attention of the most senior leaders of the russian federation. butina's gun lobbying got her privileged access in the united states, including to the n

mariia butina certainly a colorful figure we're only beginning to learn about.o much for being with us. >>> we are following all sorts of news developing this morning so let's get to it. > >> i let him know we can't have this, we're not going to have it. >> when it really counted it didn't stand up to putin. >> it's so convenient no one other than the interpreter was in the room. >> is russia still targeting the u.s., mr. president. >> the president was say nothing answer-to-answering questions. >> russia continues to engage in malign operations to this day. >> we have strong sanctions against russia. >> the russian agenda is to let the americans destroy themselves from within. >> vladimir putin's got a path. the only way this will be corrected, one word -- vote. >> announcer: this is "new day" with alisyn camerota and john berman. >> good morning, everyone. it's thursday, july 19, 8:00 in the east. so the american people and the world are trying to figure out where the president of the united states actually

they brought someone into the mariia butina case. there was a moment where we have the transcript, her lawyer is arguing his client should not be in jail. his client you can see from the sketches, she's sitting there in an orange jail jumpsuit. her lawyer is arguing to the judge about the injustice of that and how unnecessary that is that she is being held in jail. the lawyer said, i submit to you, your honor, she is entitled to leave on her own there could be other conditions that could be set that could give the court assurance of her return but certainly keeping her in jail for what is -- this is not an espionage case, this is not a spying case. her lawyer says. actually, dude, don't look behind you but veteran counter espionage prosecutor from the national security division of the justice department has actually been brought in to try this case. you may not want this to be an espionage case but there's a counter espionage prosecutor and your client is being charged as a russian secret agent. which is something that rhymes with pi

connection to torshin and torshin's connections to putin and the ways in which they were using mariia butina>> did she have further contact with the campaign? i understood she met with -- albeit perhaps briefly with donald trump jr. >> yeah, there was a concerted effort after that incident in which butina and torshin, going through intermediaries who were conservative activists with whom they had forged relationships to set up meetings with the trump campaign, set up broker a summit between trump himself and putin. this is while trump was still running -- still a candidate, not the president. there's an extensive e-mail trail on this in which various conservative activists are e-mailing top officials of the trump campaign to try to set up a meeting at an nra convention in louisville in 2016. ultimately, they don't get the meeting with trump but they do get a meeting with donald trump jr. >> yeah. just very quickly, do we know if butina's attempts to forge relations with donald trump and/or people in his orbit continued after the election? >> yes. as a matter of fact, and i wrote about this l

. >> i want to asko you about thi woman, mariia butina, this foreign agent operating in this shadowy way in the u.s., she's been charged. you sent out this tweet last night and i want to read it to everybody. mariia butina, russian national, has been charged as acting as a surreptitious russian agent and establishing a secret back channel with the gop through the national rifle association. more likely to come on this. no wonder gop members of the house intel committee refused our request to bring her and others in. hold on a second, congressman. you knew about butina and you tried to interview her and question her in front of your committee? >> we certainly knew about her and part of the role she was playing we didn't know whether she was an agent of a foreign power but certainly had deep concerns over her activities of others that we had e-mail correspondents with that were talking quite openly in that correspondence about setting up a secret back channel through the nra. we heard credible allegations that the russians may have been funneling money through the nra so, yes, we wante

coming up, this fascinating new woman, mariia butina, and new details in how she figures in into, orried to figure into president trump's campaign. yeah! we hide hotel names, so you can find four star hotels at two star prices. h-o-t-w-i-r-e who would have guessed? an energy company helping cars emit less. making cars lighter, it's a good place to start, advanced oils for those hard-working parts. fuels that go further so drivers pump less. improving efficiency is what we do best. energy lives here. improving efficiency is what we do best. until her laptop crashed this morning. her salon was booked for weeks, having it problems? ask a business advisor how to get on demand tech support for as little as $15 a month. right now, buy one hp ink and get a second at 30% off at office depot officemax with pg&e in the sierras. and i'm an arborist since the onset of the drought, more than 129 million trees have died in california. pg&e prunes and removes over a million trees every year to ensure that hazardous trees can't impact power lines. and since the onset of the drought we've doubled our

what do we know about this mariia butina and the charges she is facing?ntially facing this conspiracy charge for work as a foreign agent here in the united states. she is just 29 years old. she was arrested in washington, d.c., and this is where she has been charged. this is someone that we know from these court documents, but also previously cnn reporting who has been years trying to make inroads with political organizations, with political operatives and even candidates here in the united states alongside the man who was her mentor, alexander torshin. he is a kremlin-linked banker who was slapped with sanctions earlier this year along with a number of russian officials. this is someone who has deep ties within the upper echelon of the national rifle association, and she was able to use those ties to meet various political operatives and political candidates. and we know that she and her mentor, alexander torshin also at one point tried to establish this back channel of communications between then candidate donald trump and russian president vladimir put

>> i'm a representative of the russian federation he >> reporter: federal prosecutors accused mariia butina of being a russian/16 who allegedly offered sex in exchange for a job where she could influence u.s. policy. butina has been charged with failing to register as a foreign agent and conspiring to act as an agent of that foreign power. the 29-year-old entered the u.s. on a student visa in 2016 but had visited several times over the past few years. according to court documents, butina allegedly took steps to develop relationships with american politicians in order to advance the interests of the russian federation. photos document her with republican wisconsin governor scott walker and nra chief wayne lapierre. she was also actively involved in the national prayer breakfast and tried unsuccessfully to arrange a meeting between president trump and vladimir putin. as she began making nor contacts with conservative leaders she landed on the fbi's radar. investigators allege she had an ongoing relationship with a 56-year-old republican operative strictly for business purposes and was likely

. >> this is, what this indictment or this new complaint against ru russia and mariia butina, shows thats woman who is incarcerated and waiting for hearings to move forward was part of according to the allegations part of a russian influence operation trying to make some back channel between the republican party and the nra to the clem lynn and trying -- kremlin, and trying to connect these entities of the project to shoring up the relationships between the kremlin and the movement, and mariia butina spent years in the united states work on that project. what the criminal complaint shows that she had help from at least one american. the complaint does not name the u.s. citizen, but the washington post has identified this person as paul erickson a long time operative and insooider and according to the complaint this u.s. person number one wrote an e-mail no the third party individual that he was part of setting up secret communications, back channel communications between a major republican party and they don't name the party, but we can assume it is republican party and the major gun rig

. >>> a fbi affidavit released today in the case accusesed russian agent mariia butina indicted today communication with a group of americans describing a group of russians arriving in washington. people are hand picked. very influential in russia. they are coming to establish a back channel of communication. joining us now joyce and david corn is still with us. what is your reading of this indictment today? why was robert mueller not involved? >> she's actually charged by a complaint, which is a little bit difference than an indictment bush still requires a probable cause showing and the reason it's with the u.s. attorney and the district of columbia is is likely of convenience. >> david this could make it more complicated for the president to interfere with this part of the investigation given that these investigations are now are spread out across a few different federal prosecutors' offices. here it is on this historic day in the trump administration history. they certainly knew in washington, d.c. in the justice department what the president was doing today. they didn't wait unti

but the key issue that was discussed was this issue of mariia butina who's a young russian woman who was arrested in the united states the day after the helsinki summit on allegations of acting as an agent of russia. basically she's been accuse dollars of being a spy although she's not formally charged with espionage. infiltrating right ring conservative groups like the rifle association to try to push russia's agenda. they told mike pompeo that the evidence against her was fabricated. other officials here in russia said it was an arrest in order to discredit that new friendship, that new detente between the u.s. and the russian president. what i think it describes is the fact there's a detente on the way between president trump and president putin. the other operators of the u.s. administration, the justice department, fbi, everyone else, he they're still continue going about their business of enforcing the law. and that's something that's going to continue while russia continues to conduct itself in this way. natalie. >> her story is another chapter we'll continue to follow. matthe

her name is mariia butina.he allegedly cultivated powerful allies in an effort to set up private communication between the russian governments and elected officials in the u.s. and tried to arrange a secret meeting between then candidate donald trump and vladimir putin. court filings in her arrest revealed the efforts were similar, frankly, to efforts that president trump denied even happened when he stood side by side with vladimir putin just yesterday. the fbi writes in part, quote, moscow seeks to create wedges that reduce trust and confidence in the democratic process, denigrate democratic efforts and weaken u.s. partnerships with european allies. ivan perez joins me now. what do we know about her? >> mariia butina spent the last few years trying to make inroads with conservative political organizations including the national rifle association. the goal according to the charges filed in federal court was to influence american politics to, quote, advance the agenda of the russian federat n federation. prosec

the allegations against a 29-year-old russian mariia butina further substantiate sustained effort by russia to infiltrate and influence u.s. political organizations and operatives. all of this to shape u.s., russia relations. according to cnn and court filings, putin's primary avenue of influence appears to be the national rifle association. she leveraged her relationship with the nra leadership to foster relationships with republican party leaders, american politicians, and business leaders. she even helped in an effort to establish a covert communications channel between then candidate donald trump and russian president vladimir putin. an effort that was rebuffed. in 2015, putin publicly asked candidate trump a question about sanctions at an event in las vegas. >> if you will be the president, what will be your foreign politics especially in relationships with my country and do you want to continue the politics of sanctions that are damagi damaging both economies or do you have any other ideas. >> obama gets along with nobody. i believe i would get along nicely with putin, and we h

ba mariia butina has been ordered held without bond until her trial.s accusedf using sexual favors to try to influence americ politics and infiltrate political organizations. r gun lobbying efforts tosedhe get close to people at the nra and the republicanit party. >>> s official. air force one is a getti patriotic makeover. president trumphe s new colors c cbs interview he had last nigce. air one has been baby blue and white since john kennedy was president. in february, the white house and boeing agreed to a 4 billion-dollar contract for planes. the new modeld expto be airborne by 2d4. >>> ford issue a massive h recall. >> pistoric hosting night at the espy awards. eactca patrick's on stagencperfs ion tethis ngmorning. stay with us. we're back after this. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ >> 5:45 is the time right now.k live outside the white hoe. they're up and somebody is at least,wake in there up and awake, lights are's on it beautiful day outside so far. >> yes, so far and y know what, wisdom, why not just let's keep itng g. >> why not. >> let's dot. ek. te but lidi

learn more at cancercenter.com >>> russian national mariia butina is now facing charges from a federaly of conspiracy and acting as a foreign agent. the fbi says she worked with russian banker alexandria torsion to develop back channels in russian attempts to influence u.s. politics and the nra. putin's attorney tells cnn she only wanted to promote better relations between the two nations. before we get to this alleged russian spy tonight, this is tweet tonight not so long ago from james comey he wrote this. he says this republican congress has proven incapable of fulfilling the founder's design that ambition must counteract ambition. all who believe must vote this fall. history has its eyes on us. look, i understand you're a democrat. i'm just wondering if tweets like this from comey who said during the hearings he's a registered republican but no longer is right now because of what's going on, does this make him appear partisan? >> look, i think there's a better quote. something about absolute power corrupting absolutely. it gets to the same message that director comey was getting to

mariia butina was arrested for allegedly working with the russian government to gain influence in americanlitics. people who knew butina during her time at american university, said there were some red flags, like her support for vladimir putin and guns. a neighbor said she saw nothing suspicious until one night when a swarm of fbi agents showeup. >> i hear a banging. the man says, please, miss, stay inside. so, i did. andthen, i heard -- they continued to bang really loudly. they said, we know you're in there. >> butina has moved out of that now, she faces charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent in the unistates. her lawyer says she has done nothing wrong. >>> if maryland governor larry hogan wins re-election, he says he will do i without the help of the nra. he told student w that held reject a potential endorsement from the national rifle associatio that's according to "the washington post." the republican said he backs strengthening a law that holds parents responsible when the kids get access to guns. 16-year-old jalen wily was killed elier this year. >>> another day, another mas

mariia butina. at an american university and sort of materialized on the campaign trail. she was working primarily with the national rifle association, trying to encourage the national rifle association to support president trump, which it did. and she came to a press conference of the president's. asked a question there. raised the issue of sanctions. and she's not charged with espionage. she's charged with being a foreign agent without registering, which is an unusual criminal charge. it doesn't usually lead to criminal charges, but i guess the department of justice felt her behavior was so obviously an advocate for what russia wanted -- >> and that's the point. so is that what she was doing -- what they are accusing her of is basically trying to make in roads for vladimir putin in the u.s. her asks were unusual. she really wanted vladimir putin to be able to go to the national prayer breakfast in 2017. so what was a big ask. then she also wanted to play some role on the campaign. she met don jr.

. >> now, to today's top stories, later today, mariia butina will appear in court for a preliminary hearingained in jail after begrrested monday. thhe fbi raided her had home. she was developing relationships with u.s. persons and infiltrating organizations that influenced the american political system like the nra. all for the purposes of advancing the interests of the russian federation. butina's attorney maintains she is innocent and simply an american university graduate. >> it's official, boeing will build the next generation of air force one. the aerospace giant landing a $3.9 billion deal yesterday to replace the two current models. that comes months after tense talks of the white house and boeing where repeatedly criticized the cost of the planes. now the next step is looking to see what the jets will look pai planes red, white and blue. >> a woman rode her bike on to a drawbridge as it was being lifted andgned the warning gates. the video shows had her fall in a gap, by-standers helped her out. the bridge operator was made aware of the incident and did not move the bridge until the

the indictment for mariia butina reads like a spy novel. the government claims she was willing to go to extreme measures to infiltrate the u.s. political system and the nra. prosecutors accuse the 29-year-old of offering sex in exchange for a position inside an undisclosed special interest organization. one of her alleged russian contacts joked in one message about her high profile in the united states saying you've upstaged anna chapman. she poses with toy pistols while you are being published with the real ones, a reference to another redheaded russian arrested for spying in 2010. investigators say butina was involved in a personal relationship with an unidentified american who was instrumental in aiding her covert influence operation. and now there's growing questions about this moment at a 2015 conference when she asked then candidate trump about russia. >> do you want to continue the politics of sanctions? >> i believe i would get along very nicely with putin, okay. and i mean where we have the strength. i don't think you'd need the sa

. >> a federal judge ordering mariia butina to jail.r arrest she was packing boxes and sending money to russia. and she was willing to go to extreme measures to infiltrate the political system and the nra, offering sex in exchange for a position in an unidentified special interest organization. >> wildfire danger is expanding in the west. at least 48 large fires burning. >> in oregon, two fast wildfires engulfing multiple buildings. in california, the smoke from the fire near yosemite made the air quality hazardous. >> the latest on the young boys and their coach rescued from the cave in thailand.ild boars trad hospital gowns for soccer jerseys. fit and healthy enough to play again. >> pretty bizarre. a man has set a new record for slicing watermelons on his stomach. do not try this at home. that does not look safe. >> does he moonlight at brisk's? >> oh, geez. >> i accidently -- >> just going to leave me hanging out there. luckily, we had the commercial break. >> i could barely talk last night. i had tears running down my face. i ruine

activist with ties to the nra who is accused of working as a secret russian agent. 29-year-old mariia butina has now been indicted on two charges including acting as an agent of the russian government. if convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison. her lawyer calls the charges overblown. >>> and this morning a search resumes in florida after two small planes collided over the evergrades. at least three people were killed. another victim is missing. the planes are reportedly owned by a flight school that has suffered three deadly crashes in the past. the cause of the crash is under investigation. >>> and now to a major development in the scandal surrounding papa john's pizza. a lawyer for the company's founder now says john schnatter will not leave without a fight. he claims the board of directors did not have the authority to force him to resign as chairman after he used the "n" word during a conference call. schnatter says his comment was taken out of context and he was actually just saying he wouldn't work with kanye west as a spokesman because he uses the "n" word in his lyrics. he say

. >> federal prosecutors say mariia butina worked for years to establish back channel lines with thepierre thomas has the details. >> reporter: the federal judge ordering the alleged russian eight, mariia butina be held behind bars. they argue she is an extreme flight risk. days before her arrest she was packing boxes and sending money to russia and was willing to go to extreme measures to infiltrate the u.s. political system and the nra. offering sex in exchange for position within a special interest organization. according to prosecutors, one of her alleged russian contacts joking in one message about her high profile in the u.s. you have upstaged anna chapman. she poses with toy pistols while you are being published with real ones. investigators say butina was involved in a personal relationship with an unidentified american who was instrumental in aiding her covert influence operation. and now growing questions about this moment at a 2015 conference when she asked then candidate trump about russia. >> do you want to continue the politics of sanctions? >> i believe i would get alo

>>> mariia butina was the russia spy who attempted to trade sex for politics and -- so, what was communicated with the russian intelligence during her years in america. she doing at the national prayer breakfast? let's bring in steven and jeff, an expert on the prayer breakfast, and the author of the family, the secret fundalism. at the heart of american power. jeff, i'll start with you. a lot of people are wondering how on earth an accused russian spay became so entangled with a national prayer breakfast, what was she doing there? >> what people don't understand about the breakfast, it's not a government event. it's run by a private organize called the fellowship and the family. it believes this this precise action. the long-time leader of the organization has called it quiet diplomacy, back channel, back door interactions between international leaders, that they use the prayer breakfast to bring them together. a year ago the current leader, doug, was predicted an alliance between trump and putin. that as a russian prayer breakfast. >> not only, julia was butina at two prayer breakfasts, she

. >>> court documents allege that mariia butina tried to trade sex for access. she was part o a campaign to influence american politics. in court, the 29-year-old pleaded not guilty. the judge denied her bond saying she was a flight >>> it's 5:09. now, to a story you saw first on 4. the school resource officer who fid his weapon inside a school in alexandria is back on regular duty she was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm. his gunfired inside george washington middle school in march, causing damage but no injuries. he has to do community service and pay restitution for the . dama >>> new pushback on a maryland county highway. governor larry hogan wants to take control of the road. e plan would add express toll lanes to the parkway in prince george's county. and last month, the national park service agrees for the transfer. >>> ford has a recall coming out today. this involves fusions and escape. it covers models between 2013 and 2016. if you have one of the cars be sure to use your parking break until a dealer sees your car. >>> groups that lobbied f

it has gone on for years and goes for this guy torshin and today we learned that mariia butina has been funded. this is someone separate. this is beyond torshin. this came out this afternoon. they said a russian oligarch, and one of putin's closest advisers was funding her. that puts this 29-year-old in the middle of putin's inner circle. >> malcolm, this is interesting >> malcolm, this is interesting in that it is not part of the mueller investigation. it is separate. and this business about being a foreign agent. she is a representative working in the foreign government without disclosing that information. >> that is a light indictment that they start out with before working into the esponnage charges. david is absolutely right. this is a plan that goes to the highest level of the kremlins and they didn't just go after the nra. they went torshin >>> they went after the extreme christian conservatives, now who have every year a conference in moscow on quote-unquote the protection of christians around the world. that's a code word. there's the extreme gun rights group and no gun rights

court documents allege that mariia butina tried to trade sex for access. the fbi says she was part of a campaign to influence american politics. in court, the 29-year-old pleaded not guilty. the judge denied her bond saying she was a potential flight risk. >>> it's 6:07. now, to a story you saw first on 4. the school resource officer who fired his weapon inside a school in alexandria is back onegular duty. a grand jury indicted karl savoy on reckless handling of a firearm. he was charged with reckless f discharge ofearm. his gun fired inside george washington middle school in march, causing damage but no injuries. >>> new pushback on a maryland county highway. there is a pushback to transfer the highway from federal control to sta control. governor larry hogan wants to take control of the road. the plan would add expss toll lanes to t parkway in prince ou george'snty. any transfer of the parkway would require congressional approval. >>> ford has a recall coming out today. this involves fusions and escape. the carmaker says a wire to the transmission can ge

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charged mariia butina with conspireing against the u.s. as a foreign agent. the fbi says she took steps to create a back channel into the u.s. government. her mentor told her, quote, have patience and cold blood. cnn political correspondent sarah murray joins us now. what have we learned about her and her role? >> jim t does feel like it's straight out of a spy novel. as you pointed out, she's a 29-year-old russian national. she attended a graduate program at american university. she founded a gun rights group in russia, which is of course notable because russia doesn't really have gun rights. she used this gun rights group to try to foster connections here in the united states, particularly through the national rifle association. she was trying to create this back channel to the u.s. government. she did that through trying to reach out to gop politicians, to reaching out through the nra, and she was even able through these various connections to get in touch with political candidates in 2015. that included candidate trump. she asked him a very interesting qu

mariia butina was arregeed for alley working with the russian government to gain influence in americanics. people who knew butina during her time at american university, said there were some red flags, like her support for vladimir putin and guns.ne a ighbor said she saw nothing suspicious until one night when fbi agents sho. >> i hear a banging. the man says, please, miss, stay inside. so, i did.he and then, d -- they continued to bang really loudly. they said, we know you're in there. uta faces charges of acting as an unregistered foreign agent in the united states. her lawyer says she has done nothing wrong. >>> now, to decision 2018, the recount i the race for county se.ive mond david blair lost to elrich by 79 votes. the glitch that affected some 80,000 maryland voters could have had an affect on the outcome of the race. >> if i was in a race this close, and i thought there's a chance that a recount would change it, i'd file for a recount, too. i'm not surprised. i expected it to happen. >> the board of elections will begin the recount at 9:00 a.m. monday morning. it should only t

federal prosecutors are now saying that mariia butina tried to use sex to gain a position of influencer chief justice correspondent pierre thomas has more there in washington for us. good morning, pierre. >> reporter: robin, good morning. today that suspected russian agent is in a d.c. jail deemed a high risk of fleeing the country. the government is trying to portray 29-year-old mariia butina as the glamorous femme fatale willing to use sex in order to infiltrate american society. >> weapons in a global struggle for power. >> reporter: like something out of that fictional movie "red sparrow" whose lead character uses every trick in the book for espionage. authorities argued in court wednesday that butina was funded by a russian oligarch in constant communication with suspected russian intelligence officials. here's butina with an alleged russian operative in this government photo taken in a d.c. restaurant. and prosecutors claim that she had an american boyfriend who was instrumental in aiding her covert influence operation. all this part of an alleged effort to cozy up to top nra off

. >>> russian's foreign ministry launching a hash tag campaign to free mariia butina. discuss with harry hitman and former director for russia at the national security counsel, jeffrey edmonds. gentlemen, good evening to you. associated with butina big names, how do you sympathy butina worked her way into their circles? >> what's interesting about mariia, when we think about spies, we think about somebody that the russian security service has identified as having a weakness of some kind. they cultivate this person and exploit them. over years they try to work them and get classified information from the government. that's not what we're talking about, we're talking about a fast fail achieve approach. it worked. it didn't cost her much to get in here. she got within circles of people -- the typical russian approach. lest go in for the divisions and society, let's put somebody there. the people on that division, whether the nra, welcomed this person in with open arms, not realizing what their credentials are and where they're coming from. >> you said fast fail fail chief

. >>> sergei lavrov is demanding the release of mariia butina.infiltrating the public entities. now back to "dateline." >>> welcome back. i'm craig melvin. paul zumot and jennifer seemed a match made in heaven, but a prosecutor believed he had plen city of evidence that pointed to the contrary. here again is keith morrison. >> in the days after the fire on addison avenue, after paul zumot was charged with murder and hauled off to jail, events in palo alto seemed to freeze somehow. in confusion and denial from paul's point of view and unrequited grief from the people who loved jennifer. >> it hurt. it hurt a lot. >> unrequited partly because for some reason, even though he'd been arrested, paul wasn't entering a plea, which is what this was all about. candlelight vigils outside of paul's hookah lounge by jennifer's friends and family. >> we decided to stand in front of his establishment every night until he made his plea. >> eventually, no surprise, paul did plead not guilty. and prosecutor chuck gillingham found himself sifting through the record

also and this will go down a storm i say in washington, demanding the immediate release of mariia butina. the russians are demanding her release. they started a social media campaign in which they asked followers to replace twitter pictures on facebook and other social media with her image. now they're making that as a direct demand. more strategically important is this continued energy that they're driving that they're in charge of the diealogue. they been releasing and have come up with the idea to normalize diplomatic relations. >> thanks so much. let's talk to david swer lig, steve hall, and cnn global affairs correspondent elise lavit. still no clarity from the white house on what was discussed or promised, so why does this white house think scheduling another meeting with putin this time at the white house is beneficial? >> yeah, good morning, fred. i think if you look at what happened this week with the president and president putin helsinki and look back a few weeks ago to north korea, a meeting that took place between kim jong-un and president trump in singapore that's since not

. >> reporter: the fbi says during the two years mariia butina was making a name for herself as a washington student and gun enthusiast hoping to further relations with russia, she had a dark secret. prosecutors say her every move was directed by a russian government officials, aleksandr torshin, close ally of vladimir putin. investigators say she hid in plain sight, joining the nra to get close to influential republicans, unaware, law enforcement officials say, that the fbi was watching her. >> the russians for decades have been trying to penetrate washington circles. this is very reminiscent of the ten russian illegals, the sleeper agents arrested several years ago, but this was a speed version of that. >> reporter: at a 2015 trump event in las vegas, she asked the candidate a question. >> if you are elect as president, what will be your foreign politics especially in the relationships with my country. >> reporter: court documents say she offered sex for access to an unnamed political group. the fbi arrested her last weekend when she was packing up to move. in court she pleaded not guilty.

her name was mariia butina. she was just charged yesterday by the justice department for acting as a foreign agent and infiltrating the nra and trying to create back channels with the trump campaign and trying to get vladimir putin to the 2017 national prayer breakfast. so, since you interacted with her and now you watch all of this unfold, what do you make of everything that happened yesterday? >> well, i'm kicking myself because she reached out to me several times after moving to the u.s. wanting to, you know, hang out and get coffee and i just thought, i don't know, i don't have time for this. could have been a good story. instead i just have this story about her taking me shooting at a former kgb shooting range back in moscow in 2012. >> not for nothing. >> i know. >> but just very quickly one point on that did you sense she was trying to make in roads into the u.s.? and get some sort of policy changed? >> well, this was back in 2012. she was still based in russia and she came to my attention because basical

they also arrested this woman, mariia butina. lavrov said the charges are fabricated and that she should be released. >> as far the u.s. president on twitter, most of his anger was aimed at a very familiar topic. >> and a former opponent also voiced her opinion, i think you know who that is. ryan nobles is traveling with the president. >> reporter: president is spending the weekend at his golf course in bedminster, new jersey, and his twitter feed was busy on saturday. he specifically took the opportunity to suggest that the investigation into his campaign's potential ties to the russian government during the 2016 election could end up having an effect in the election in 2018. the president tweeting, quote, no collusion, no obstruction, but that doesn't matter because the 13 angry democrats were only after republicans in totally protecting democrats want this witch-hunt to drag out to the november election. republicans better get smart fast and expose what they're doing. now, the president's tweet storm comes against the backdrop

on the air, we were unable to tell you it was a criminal complaint filed against this is woman, mariia butina right now, it is not just a criminal complaint anymore. now it is an indictment. a grand jury convened by the u.s. attorney so not the special counsel's office,

according to the kremlin laugh ron demanded mariia butina be released claiming the charges are fabricatedshe has been charged with acting as an unregistered russian agent while infiltrating the nra. the u.s. state department made no mention of butina in its read out of the call. syria was also discussed during the conversation per the creme lane and state department in addition to, quote, a broad range of issues some of which were follow-ups to the private meeting president trump had with vladimir putin. in addition per the state department, quote, the need for russia to provide equal diplomatic access to the united states at a level that is fair and reciprocal was also discussed. >> now to supreme court pick brett kavanaugh who previously suggested that the unanimous higher court ruling that forced richard nixon to turn over the watergate tapes leading to the end of his presidency may have been wrong. the decisions, united states versus nixon, marked limits on a president's ability to withhold information needed for criminal prosecution. he made the comment several years ago during a rou

mariia butina spent several years conspiring to influence politics under aleksandr torshin.s any wrongdoing. butina faces up to 15 years if e's convte >> take a look a manhattan. many subway stations were a little bit wet. >> worchester, massachusetts was also hard hit. >> and this church steeple in southern new hampshire was struck by lightning and actually caught fire as well. there were no injuries. >> a problem in the west is not enough rain. dozens of fires like this one in the columbia river gorge in oregon are burning strong. hundreds of residents have been told to evacuate. >> there's just not enough to keep paul williams busy on this wednesday morning. good morning. >> the heat is expanding again in the southwest and suppressing this monsoonal moisture that's creating the helpful showers.th northwest, dangerous heat particularly in boise. we're watching for storms along i-80 and widespread scattered showers in abundance along the gulf coast. kendis, diane? >> paul, thank you. and weather may have been a factor in the death of a high school student on long island. >>

a grand jury indicted mariia butina yesterday.ourt documents allege as officials ordered her to set up a private line of communication between moscow and the u.s. in the nra convention. in 2014, 2015, she met several rick santorum, scott walker and bobby jindal along with the nra ceo wayne lapierre. >> we recognize that freedomfest is a big thing. >> and boutin nal questioned then candidate donald trump about the russian sanctions during a 2016 freedom fest. >> do you want to keep politics off? >> i believe i will get along very nicely with president putin. okay? and i mean where we have the strength. i don't think he'd need the sanctions. i think that we would get along very, very well. >> now, butina's lawyer said she is not a foreign agent and called the allegations overblown. >>> nearly a month after they disappeared in a cave in thailand 12 soccer players and their coach are going home. at a news conference, the boys all wore their team uniforms as they spoke about the experience for the first time. the players appear to be h

indicting a 29-year-old russian national for being a russian agent here in the united states, mariia butinayou see her right there. conspiring to influence our politics. it shows how deep the russian effort was. >> and this is separate from the robert mueller investigation. this has been an investigation going on for a couple of years but they're basically saying she was conspiring to be a russian agent here in the united states and lying about what she was doing here. i think they were worried she was about to flee which is the reason that they're filing these charges immediately, but this really goes to the heart of what we've really been talking about here. this isn't periphery, this is someone who came to the country allegedly to be a foreign agent and lied about it. >> and tried to influence the national rifle association republican politics. thanks very much. robin. >>> we move to those severe summer storms lashing the northeast triggering dangerous flash flooding leading to dozens of water rescues. ginger is here with those details. good morning, ginger. >> the numbers were impressiv

in 2015 answering a question from an indicted russian operative and alleged spy mariia butina, candidate trump made clear his desires with russia stating, "i would get along well with putin and i don't think we need the sanctions." now the russian ambassador to the united states has said the president made -- and this is his quote -- important verbal agreements with president putin and he seems to know more about helsinki and what happened there than the senate foreign relations committee. tee. as we saw in tee. as we saw in helsinki and throughout his presidency in the campaign, this president is extremely sympathetic to the very russian government that attacked and continues to attack our democracy and those of our allies. it's a fact of political life today that many americans are concerned about the unthinkable, that a u.s. president could have a compromising relationship with a foreign power. the president could clear this all up in three simple ways, releasing his tax returns and those of the trump organization and the taxes from the various family businesses, some of which we don'